Halfway House

Before the Royal Marine Barracks were extended in the mid-1860s Barrack Street ran the entire length of the western face of the late-eighteenth century structure. Doubtless the barracks had been in place for some years before the street was laid out, but as the rear of the barracks site was originally right on the water’s edge on the banks of Millbay, there was a degree of inevitability about any extension being at the expense of, not only a significant part of Barrack Street, but also a major chunk of the eastern side of Durnford Street.

For its part the Halfway House was indeed roughly half-way down the straight part of Barrack Street, however, notwithstanding that fact, the pub appears to have been rechristened the Somerset House, some ten years or so before it closed and was demolished.